Euronext extends Oslo Bors takeover offer until May 6

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of stock market operator Euronext is seen on a building in the financial district of la Defense in Courbevoie, near Paris, France, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

PARIS (Reuters) - European exchange group Euronext on Monday extended the deadline on its 6.8 billion Norwegian crown ($791 million) offer for Oslo Bors as the battle with Nasdaq for control of Norway’s stock market operator intensifies.

Euronext’s offer, which had been due to expire on Monday, will now remain open until the evening of May 6. The terms remain at 158 Norwegian crowns per Oslo Bors share, a price matched by Nasdaq.

Euronext said it has secured 53.1 percent of the shares in Oslo Bors. The operator of stock markets in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin and Lisbon said it directly holds 8.1 percent of the shares and other shareholders have irrevocably pre-committed or tendered 45 percent of the shares.

The bid battle for Oslo Bors, one of the last independent stock market operators in northern Europe, began in December, when Euronext made a first unsolicited move. The Norwegian bourse’s board’s response was to seek new bidders, encouraging U.S.-based Nasdaq to make a rival offer.

The Oslo Bors board and largest shareholder DNB backed the Nasdaq offer, which will expire on April 30.

To win over more shareholders in Norway, Euronext has said it will set its commodities trading hub in Oslo.

The company has said that respected Norwegian financier Tom Vidar Rygh, who has chaired Oslo Bors in the past, has agreed to join the exchange operator’s board if Euronext completes the proposed takeover.